Cabinet.



ALBERT JOHN MURPHY, OF LEEDS, ENGLAND.

CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 31, 1906.

Application nea March 27, 1905. serai No. 252,400.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT JOHN MURPHY, a citizen of Great Britain, residing at Leeds, in the county of York, England, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new or improved cabinet or chest of drawers, as hereinafter described, for the storing of bottles, books, and other articles, (hereinafter termed b0ttles.)

According to my invention I employ a suitable casing containing a number of sliding drawers, each of which latter is composed of a base-board carrying an upstanding front board and an upstanding back board at its front and back ends, respectively, the upper ends of which upstanding boards are connected by side stays, so that the drawer is left entirely open at its two sides and top. The base-board is provided with shallow upstanding side pieces, which extend from the front board to the back board of the drawer, and a central rail, which is adapted to engage in a longitudinal recess formed in the baseboard, is provided, whereby the said baseboard is divided into two compartments. In between the front board and the back board of the drawer a shelf or shelves is or are provided, having upstanding side pieces and a central division-rail, in a similar manner to that of the base-board, to form two compartments on each shelf, and tongues are formed on the forward and backward edges of the shelf or shelves, which engage vertical grooves formed in the inner faces of the front and back boards of the drawer, so as to render the.

said shelf or shelves capable of being slid or moved up and down in the drawer at will, while when the shelf or shelves have been adjusted to the height required supportingstrips are passed into the grooves below the shelf or shelves to support the latter, or any other suitable retaining device may be employed. In this way the drawer is divided into several compartments, and the bottles are set in longitudinal rows upon the baseboard and shelf or shelves, each bottle being divided from the other by a sliding transverse rail, which rails engage longitudinal grooves formed in the shallow upstanding sides of the base-board and shelf or shelves and their central division-rails. A handle is attached to the front of the drawer for moving the same in and out of its case, while the front of the drawer is also provided with a label-holding device of any suitable kind to carry index cards or labels having numbers and other particulars marked thereon corresponding with the numbers and particulars marked on the bottles containedin the drawer. By providing the drawer with such or any suitable index cards or labels it .can be seen at a glance what each particular drawer contains, thus obviating the trouble and loss of time hitherto experienced in searching for any particular bottle among a number, while the bottles stored in the drawer are preserved from dust, and, further, that -on pulling the drawer outward the open sides of the same greatly facilitate the removal or inspection of any particular bottle required. Should the bottles be of different heights, the shelves may be readily adjusted so as to take, say, the larger bottles in the lower compartments and the smaller bottles in the upper .compartments of the drawer, while should the bottles be exceptionally large a shelf .or shelves may be entirely removed, and, if desired, the central division-rail in the base-board also may be removed.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar numbers of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, wherein- Figure l'is a perspective view showing a cabinet with four drawers constructed in accordance with my invention. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 are respectively a sectional front elevation, a sectional side elevation, and a sectional plan, drawn to an enlarged scale, of `one of the drawers of the cabinet; and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a drawer, showing ,a detail of construction.

In the drawings, the cabinet consists of a casing 1, containing four drawers, (see Fig. 1,) the construction of which drawers wllbe understood upon reference to a'drawer shown at Figs. 2, 3, and 4, which drawer consists of a horizontal base-board 2, having a vertical front board 3 and vertical back board 4 fixed thereto, which boards 3 and 4 are connected at their upper ends by means of horizontal side stays 5, so as to leave the two sides and top of the drawer entirely open. The baseboard 2 is provided with fixed upstandin side pieces 6, extending from the front board 3 to the back board 4, and a longitudinal recess 7 is formed in the base-board 2, into which is removably fitted a central rail 8, whereby IOO IIO

the saidbase-board 2 is divided into twoflongitudinal compartments. In between the front board 3 and the back board 4 shelves 9 9 are provided, each shelf 9 having fixed side pieces 10 and being formed with a longitudinal groove 11, into which is removably fitted a central rail 12 for dividing each shelf 9 into two longitudinal compartments, and

ton ues 13 are formed on the forward and.

lpassed into the grooves 14 below each of the shelves 9 9 to support the latter in the adjusted position. In this way the drawer is divided into several compartments, and the bottles are set in rows upon the base-board 2 and the shelves 9 9, asindicated by the dotted circles at Fig. 4, and sliding transverse rails 16 are employed between the bottles to divide the latter, which rails enga e longitudinal grooves 17, formed in the si e pieces 6 10, and division-rails 8 12 of the base-board 2 and shelves 9 9, respectively. A handle 18 is attached to the front of the drawer for movin the same in and out of its case 1, while t e front of the drawer is also provided with a label-holding device of any suitable kind having numbers and other particulars marked thereon corresponding with the numbers andparticulars marked on the bottles contained in the drawer.

By providing each of the drawers with a label-holding device of any suitable kind it can be seen at a glance what-each particular drawer contains, thus obviating the trouble and loss of time hitherto experienced in searching for any particular bottle among a number, while the bottles stored in the drawer are preserved from dust, and, further, that on pulling the drawer outward the open sides of the same reatly facilitate the removal or inspection o any particular bottlerequired.

Should the bottles be of different heights, the shelves 9 9 may be readily adjusted in the drawer at will to suit the bottles to be y stored and, if required, one of the shelves 9 may beentirely removed from the drawer in the manner indicated by dotted lines at Fig. 3. `rShould the bottles be exceptionally lar e, both shelves 9 9 may be removed from t e drawer and also the division-rails 8 of the base-board 2, so as to form the drawer into one lar compartment, as shown at Fig. 5, in' whicIi case I employ a skeleton frame 19, engaging with the vertical grooves 14 in the 'frontvandback boards 3 4 'of the drawer in a similar manner to vthat described with referlence to the shelves 9 9, which frame 19 is provided with sliding transverse division-rails 2O for holding the bottles in position.

Although I have shown a cabinet having only four drawers, it will be readily understood that cabinets having a considerable number of drawers constructed as above described may be employed, in which case it might be preferable in the lower drawers or those nearest the floor to remove the bottles through the open top instead of through the open sides, when the arrangement shown at Fig. 5 may be used.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. A cabinet, comprising a casing containing any suitable number of sliding drawers, each of which drawers is composed of a baseboard carrying an upstanding front board and an upstandingback board connected at their upper ends by side stays so as to leave the two sides and top entirely open, a shelf or shelves which is or are adjustable vertically between the front and back boards so as to form compartments of various heights, and a removable central rail in connection with the base-board and the shelf or shelves respectively for dividing the same into longitudinal compartments, substantially as set forth.

2. A cabinet, comprising a casing, containing any suitable number of drawers, each of which drawers is composed of a base-board carrying an upstanding front board and an upstanding back board connected together at their upper ends by side stays so as to leave the two sides and top entirely open, the said base-board being provided with shallow upstanding side pieces and having a central division-rail so as to form the said base-board into two longitudinal compartments, and a shelf or shelves having tongues engaging vertical grooves formed in the front and back boards so as'to be adjustable therein to form the drawer into compartments of various heights, each shelf being provided with shallow upstanding side pieces and having a central division-rail so as to form each shelf into two longitudinal compartments substantially as set forth. 3. A cabinet, comprising a casing containing a numb er of drawers ,each of which drawers is composed of a base-board 2 carrying a front board 3 and a back board 4 connected by side stays 5, the said base-board 2 being provided with side pieces 6 and having a removable central rail 8 forming two longitudinal compartments, shelves 9, 9 provided with side pieces 10 and having a removable central rail 12 forming each shelf into two lon itudinal compartments, sliding rails 16 in t e longitudinal compartments of the base-board 2 and shelves 9, 9 for dividing the said compartments transversely, the said shelves 9, 9 eing formed with tongues 13 engaging ver- IOO IIO

ISO

tical grooves 14 formed in the front and back In testimony whereof I have signed my boards 3, 4 so as to be capable of adjustment name to this specication in the presence of to form compartments of various heights, two subscribing witnesses.

and strips 15 engaging the grooves 14 below ALBERT JOHN MURPHY. l 5 the shelves 9, 9 for supporting the latter in Witnesses:

the adjusted position, substantially as set FRANois ARCHIBALD MAsoN, forth. HAROLD NEWTON MURPHY. 

